Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The concept of ‘seeing sound’ might seem preposterous, but when you consider that sound is just compressed air travelling in waves, the idea becomes a bit more logical. The real trick is capturing air flow in a way that makes it perceptible to the human eye. Through some clever tricks, scientists are able to do just that using a technique called Schlieren flow visualisation, which is used to study everything from heat and sound to aerodynamics and the spread of disease.
Producer: Adam Cole
Video by NPR’s Skunk Bear
video
Earth science and climate
A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
6 minutes
video
Design and fashion
Household items are reborn in a ‘visual symphony of everyday objects’
11 minutes
video
Music
As a pianist strikes a chord, visualisations of his notes appear in real time
5 minutes
video
Thinkers and theories
Jeremy Bentham was consumed by creating a perfect prison. Here’s the result
4 minutes
video
Quantum theory
Why aren’t our everyday lives as ‘spooky’ as the quantum world?
7 minutes
video
Space exploration
Burning ice, metal clouds, gemstone rain – tour the strangest known exoplanets
31 minutes
video
Logic and probability
Chew over the prisoner’s dilemma and see if you can find the rational path out
6 minutes
video
Architecture
The radically impractical 18th-century architect whose ideas on beauty endure
19 minutes
video
Biology
The idea that life on Earth originated elsewhere is not as far out as it seems
6 minutes